Immortal Technique Breaks Down The Martyr Mixtape
DX: Then on The Martyr mixtape, on “Ultimas Parabas” you stage your own assassination as your about to release the players behind this global conspiracy. Do you ever truly feel like a target?
Immortal Technique: I was supposed to do a big rally at The Pentagon maybe seven years ago. I remember that when I pulled up they were like, “Who are you? Give me your ID.” I understood that I wasn’t just a nobody to them. They had an idea of who I am and what I do, even if because I’ve supported causes like [freeing Mumia Abu-Jamal]; because I actively fought against the war; because I’ve wanted people to use the rights that actually make them Americans. Which is sad because law enforcement is now very hostile towards people that actually know their rights. They’re angry because I know that you need probable cause before you can do anything to me. That’s the situation we’re living in right now. Most of America doesn’t realize that because [General David] Petraeus is a military commander and he’s in charge of the C.I.A., that we will take more active roles in covert action that is subversive towards a regime that we don’t like. Not because they’re a dictatorship or because they’re a Communist entity. We have no problem with autocratic regimes as long as they back what we do. We’re not at war against Radical Islam. We’re not at war with Communism. We’re at war with people that say, “No” to us. If you want to talk about how wicked the Taliban are, there are elements of Saudi Arabian fundamentalists which is basically [the Taliban] with billions of dollars of backing. The highest authority of Islam over there recently said that there should be no churches and they should all be wiped off the face of Saudi Arabia. Obviously, that’s playing for political points. I don’t think that he was being honest or that the king is going to do that. But the very fact that he’s a king, there’s nothing more autocratic than that. It plays into a double standard and I think that at some point when the double standard that you expose becomes so much so that it is undeniable to the people, that’s when you become endangered as well. Obviously, when you cost them money you get on the hit list, too. But I think the death scene is more about what a revolutionary has to be prepared to sacrifice. I show very clearly at the end after “Sign Of The Times” when I take a breath. I had [Dr.] Cornell West say, “It’s not your time, young brother, there’s more work to do,” because I want to give a message to children that you don’t have to die for a revolution to be a revolutionary. You have to be prepared to live for revolution which is actually a lot harder. It gives me joy to help people. I find fulfillment in aiding an individual regardless of their race, creed, religion, him, or her.
DX: The Martyr has a lot of contextually inline features. Acts like Brother Ali, Killer Mike...
Immortal Technique: Styles P, dead prez...
DX: Most of those other acts have been able to dance in the mainstream as well as in independent areas. How were the features chosen for this project?
Immortal Technique: First I’ll just say that, a lot of the songs on The Martyr have actually been completed for like a couple of years. It’s like I had a compilation of these songs that were half finished or missing a verse or something. I realized that this concept doesn’t necessarily fit The Middle Passage, or there’s no way I’m gonna get this cleared, or it wasn’t enough, or this person is now signed to a big label and I don’t need the headache of dealing with that dude. Forget it. I’ll just work with them regardless. I think that the way they were chosen was simply because of the friendships that I made. Vinnie Paz [is a] very good friend of mine. We have that rivalry - the [New York] Giants versus the [Philadelphia] Eagles. We joke all the time about that. He has an Italian mother. I have a Latin American, indigenous African mother. The fact that we make light of the way our parents first took us not eating swine is funny to us. Styles P, I went down to Haiti with him. Brother Ali, I’ve done fundraisers for children’s hospitals in Iraq with before. dead prez I’ve known for eight or nine years so they were just no-brainers. Killer Mike was somebody that, when I went down to Atlanta, took me everywhere; took me to meet everybody. It was from one extent to another. I’ll be in the club one night with Greg Street and Travis Porter comes out of nowhere just chilling with Killer Mike. Then the next day I’m at a T.I. video shoot meeting everyone, getting introduced to people. It was interesting to see how many people knew who I was down there. They were like, “You know, you should come down here more often,” and that’s what kind of inspired the lyrics behind that. “It’s not a Civil War between the North and the South, between field niggas and these slaves that are stuck in the house.” In other words, people that can’t see the logicality behind someone wanting to be independent and not have there entire life be controlled by a machine. So I would say that songs came about in such organic fashion which is why they mesh together so well. They’re built on real relationships, not the label telling me, “You know what would really be cool is if you did this or that,” or out trying to have some Pop hit for the ladies. Okay, I’ll get something for the ladies. I’ll get my homegirl MeLa Machinko who I’ve known for 16 years now. I knew her since she was knocking people out! [Laughs] It’s funny that we chose [“Natural Beauty”] to talk about the self identity that they have which is pushed on them by a Euro-centric model of what beauty should be. That rejects African and Igbo features even though you want all of them for yourselves. Now who got the collagen under the lips? Remember the Sambo character with drawn on characteristics? That’s an incredible indictment on what we think the beauty industry is in this country. I don’t want models to take it personally. I don’t hate you because you’re a model. But just recognize that the industry is run by people who have no idea what they’re really perpetrating or the harm that they’re doing to children.
DX: I don’t think you get enough credit for how funny you are. One of my favorite lines on “Natural Beauty” is, “And men who don’t even like women control the business / That’s why the women look like men and the men like bitches.” That is hilarious!
Immortal Technique: Maybe I missed my calling. [Laughs]
DX: Then on The Martyr mixtape, on “Ultimas Parabas” you stage your own assassination as your about to release the players behind this global conspiracy. Do you ever truly feel like a target?
Immortal Technique: I was supposed to do a big rally at The Pentagon maybe seven years ago. I remember that when I pulled up they were like, “Who are you? Give me your ID.” I understood that I wasn’t just a nobody to them. They had an idea of who I am and what I do, even if because I’ve supported causes like [freeing Mumia Abu-Jamal]; because I actively fought against the war; because I’ve wanted people to use the rights that actually make them Americans. Which is sad because law enforcement is now very hostile towards people that actually know their rights. They’re angry because I know that you need probable cause before you can do anything to me. That’s the situation we’re living in right now. Most of America doesn’t realize that because [General David] Petraeus is a military commander and he’s in charge of the C.I.A., that we will take more active roles in covert action that is subversive towards a regime that we don’t like. Not because they’re a dictatorship or because they’re a Communist entity. We have no problem with autocratic regimes as long as they back what we do. We’re not at war against Radical Islam. We’re not at war with Communism. We’re at war with people that say, “No” to us. If you want to talk about how wicked the Taliban are, there are elements of Saudi Arabian fundamentalists which is basically [the Taliban] with billions of dollars of backing. The highest authority of Islam over there recently said that there should be no churches and they should all be wiped off the face of Saudi Arabia. Obviously, that’s playing for political points. I don’t think that he was being honest or that the king is going to do that. But the very fact that he’s a king, there’s nothing more autocratic than that. It plays into a double standard and I think that at some point when the double standard that you expose becomes so much so that it is undeniable to the people, that’s when you become endangered as well. Obviously, when you cost them money you get on the hit list, too. But I think the death scene is more about what a revolutionary has to be prepared to sacrifice. I show very clearly at the end after “Sign Of The Times” when I take a breath. I had [Dr.] Cornell West say, “It’s not your time, young brother, there’s more work to do,” because I want to give a message to children that you don’t have to die for a revolution to be a revolutionary. You have to be prepared to live for revolution which is actually a lot harder. It gives me joy to help people. I find fulfillment in aiding an individual regardless of their race, creed, religion, him, or her.
DX: The Martyr has a lot of contextually inline features. Acts like Brother Ali, Killer Mike...
Immortal Technique: Styles P, dead prez...
DX: Most of those other acts have been able to dance in the mainstream as well as in independent areas. How were the features chosen for this project?
Immortal Technique: First I’ll just say that, a lot of the songs on The Martyr have actually been completed for like a couple of years. It’s like I had a compilation of these songs that were half finished or missing a verse or something. I realized that this concept doesn’t necessarily fit The Middle Passage, or there’s no way I’m gonna get this cleared, or it wasn’t enough, or this person is now signed to a big label and I don’t need the headache of dealing with that dude. Forget it. I’ll just work with them regardless. I think that the way they were chosen was simply because of the friendships that I made. Vinnie Paz [is a] very good friend of mine. We have that rivalry - the [New York] Giants versus the [Philadelphia] Eagles. We joke all the time about that. He has an Italian mother. I have a Latin American, indigenous African mother. The fact that we make light of the way our parents first took us not eating swine is funny to us. Styles P, I went down to Haiti with him. Brother Ali, I’ve done fundraisers for children’s hospitals in Iraq with before. dead prez I’ve known for eight or nine years so they were just no-brainers. Killer Mike was somebody that, when I went down to Atlanta, took me everywhere; took me to meet everybody. It was from one extent to another. I’ll be in the club one night with Greg Street and Travis Porter comes out of nowhere just chilling with Killer Mike. Then the next day I’m at a T.I. video shoot meeting everyone, getting introduced to people. It was interesting to see how many people knew who I was down there. They were like, “You know, you should come down here more often,” and that’s what kind of inspired the lyrics behind that. “It’s not a Civil War between the North and the South, between field niggas and these slaves that are stuck in the house.” In other words, people that can’t see the logicality behind someone wanting to be independent and not have there entire life be controlled by a machine. So I would say that songs came about in such organic fashion which is why they mesh together so well. They’re built on real relationships, not the label telling me, “You know what would really be cool is if you did this or that,” or out trying to have some Pop hit for the ladies. Okay, I’ll get something for the ladies. I’ll get my homegirl MeLa Machinko who I’ve known for 16 years now. I knew her since she was knocking people out! [Laughs] It’s funny that we chose [“Natural Beauty”] to talk about the self identity that they have which is pushed on them by a Euro-centric model of what beauty should be. That rejects African and Igbo features even though you want all of them for yourselves. Now who got the collagen under the lips? Remember the Sambo character with drawn on characteristics? That’s an incredible indictment on what we think the beauty industry is in this country. I don’t want models to take it personally. I don’t hate you because you’re a model. But just recognize that the industry is run by people who have no idea what they’re really perpetrating or the harm that they’re doing to children.
DX: I don’t think you get enough credit for how funny you are. One of my favorite lines on “Natural Beauty” is, “And men who don’t even like women control the business / That’s why the women look like men and the men like bitches.” That is hilarious!
Immortal Technique: Maybe I missed my calling. [Laughs]